US announces $12 million assistance for Hurricane Matthew response

US President Barack Obama

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has announced more than $12 million in additional humanitarian assistance to help communities affected by Hurricane Matthew. With this funding, the United States is providing nearly $14 million for immediate Hurricane Matthew relief efforts in Haiti, Jamaica, and The Bahamas.

The funding, according to USAID will provide critical food assistance and relief supplies to hard-hit areas in Haiti’s southwestern peninsula, as well as transportation and logistics support to help USAID’s United Nations and non-governmental organizations partners reach communities in the Grand’ Anse and Sud regions.

There are currently 1.4 million Haitians in need of humanitarian assistance, according to the UN, which issued a flash funding appeal to the international community on October 10.

Nearly $7 million of this additional funding will support the UN World Food Program’s (WFP) efforts to provide urgently needed food assistance to 750,000 people for three months. It is also being used to provide and transport 6,600 boxes of ready-to- use supplementary foods to prevent and treat malnutrition. More than $2 million of this assistance will help ramp up WFP’s logistics and telecommunications capacity to enhance efficiency and coordination of land, sea, and air cargo operations in Haiti.

The remaining nearly $3 million has gone toward the provision of more than 515 metric tons of relief supplies-including blankets, hygiene kits, kitchen sets, chain saws, water containers, generators, and heavy-duty plastic sheeting-that USAID has been airlifting to Haiti and The Bahamas. USAID is also providing a three month’s supply of chlorine to be used in piped water systems throughout Haiti, with an immediate focus on high-risk areas, as well as water purification tablets that will help provide safe drinking water for 475,000 people.

USAID deployed an elite Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) to Haiti, Jamaica, and The Bahamas on October 3 in advance of Hurricane Matthew’s arrival to lead the U.S. government’s response efforts to the strongest storm to hit the central Caribbean in almost a decade. The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) is providing airlift and logistical capacities to support USAID’s efforts to deliver critical humanitarian assistance to areas cut off by the storm. DoD has also authorized up to $11 million in Overseas Humanitarian, Disaster, and Civic Aid funds to be spent in support of USAID’s disaster relief efforts.